Oakland Police Link 4 Recent Murders To Several Rival Groups

Authorities on the scene of a fatal shooting on the 9400 block of Hillside Street in Oakland on January 11, 2013. It was the fourth homicide in a six-hour span. (CBS)Authorities on the scene of a fatal shooting on the 9400 block of Hillside Street in Oakland on January 11, 2013. It was the fourth homicide in a six-hour span. (CBS)

OAKLAND (CBS SF) — Police have linked a string of murders in Oakland Friday to several rival groups, a police spokeswoman said Saturday.

Three young men and a teenage boy were murdered in the span of six hours across Oakland on Friday in shootings linked to specific groups, police spokesman Johnna Watson said.

“These groups are involved in ongoing feuds with one another and continue to engage in retaliatory violence that will absolutely not be tolerated,” she said in a statement.

Police are investigating the four homicides and are working Saturday to find and arrest suspects. No arrests have been made.

Watson said a man shot and killed around 3 p.m. Friday on Canon Avenue near Wellington Street next to Dimond Park has been identified as 30-year-old former Oakland resident Larry Lovette of Stockton.

Around 4:15 p.m., 21-year-old Oakland man Eddiebo Rodriguez was fatally shot in the 3400 block of West Street in West Oakland, she said.

Police said Rodriguez was taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

In East Oakland, a 17-year-old boy identified as Ken Harbin of Oakland was fatally shot in the 9400 block of Hillside Street, according to Watson.

According to police, a 22-year-old Oakland man shot and killed around 2:30 p.m. Friday in the 2300 block of East 17th Street in the Fruitvale District. His name is being withheld pending notification of relatives.

The killings Friday make up the bulk of Oakland’s 6 homicides so far this year.

Oakland saw 131 homicides in 2012.

Anyone with information about the homicides that occurred Friday is asked to contact Oakland police at (510) 238-3821 or Crime Stoppers of Oakland at (510) 777-8672 or the police tip line at (510) 777-2805.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)